Tag: Interface

I’m currently wearing a shirt with the following words printed on it: “The future of music and art must not belong to the mediocre.” With any of Roland’s CAPTURE Series audio interfaces, and with your artistic input, you can give form to your creative vision(s); you can create something unique for future generations to enjoy for generations to come.

4 out of 5 octopi recommend the OCTA-CAPTURE:

Put plainly, these audio interfaces are phenomenal. The OCTA-CAPTURE in particular is a real beast. With exquisite recording resolutions of up to 24-bit/192kHz, Roland’s proprietary VS Streaming low latency driver technology, and the inclusion of Cakewalk’s powerful SONAR X1 LE (not to mention a current promotion that enables users to download SONAR X1 Studio for free), it’s difficult to overstate the awesomeness of this baby.

Discover duality with Roland’s DUO-CAPTURE:

For those of you out there who might not need that much awesomeness; those of you who can do a lot with a little, Roland also makes the beautifully affordable DUO-CAPTURE audio interface. The DUO-CAPTURE USB audio interface comes equipped with two audio inputs and outputs along with dual headphone outputs (which are great for musician/engineer production sessions). It also comes with high-stability, low-latency drivers for both Mac and PC operating systems (although SONAR X1 LE is solely for Windows). With its unique, slim-line design and stable performance, the DUO-CAPTURE is the perfect audio interface for recording musicians on the go.

TRI-CAPTURE demonstrates the power of three!

For anyone who needs a little more bang for their buck, such as an XLR input and/or a S/PDIF out, the Roland TRI-CAPTURE is right up your alley. The TRI-CAPTURE has a feature called “loop back,” which enables users to record along with music that’s being played back from the computer. It also has more detailed knobs, buttons and LEDs for greater control over your recordings. It supports phantom power for condenser mics and has a Hi-Z switch for guitarists. Additionally, like all other interfaces in this series, it too comes with a copy of Cakewalk’s SONAR X1 LE.

QUAD-CAPTURE = pro performance for portable productions

The enthusiasm of our aforementioned cephalopod friends for the OCTA-CAPTURE aside, the QUAD-CAPTURE performs spectacularly well next to its brother. It has 24-bit/192kHz recording resolution, VS Streaming technology, AUTO-SENS automatic level adjustment, and VS Preamps just like the OCTA-CAPTURE. This interface is one of the best you’ll find in its price range, in this blogger’s opinion. This one is geared towards musicians and engineers who certainly take their craft seriously, but who might not need (or be able to afford) the flagship of the CAPTURE series, the OCTA-CAPTURE.

So, what are you waiting for? Don’t let octopi have all the fun! Pick up your Roland CAPTURE Series audio interface today, and be sure to grab the complimentary, comprehensive 178-page PDF guide to the SONAR DAW behind the links at the bottom of the product pages.

For starters, for anyone who isn’t yet “in the know,” MIDI is NOT music.

I know, I know; shocking, right? It is not a digital audio codec like MP3, AAC, FLAC, etc. No actual sound ever passes through MIDI cables, either. There are .mid files, yes, but they’re made up of data that when run through the proper software, one can indeed hear music and/or musical sounds. In fact, anyone who’s ever played Rock Band or Guitar Hero has a bit of experience with MIDI, whether they realize it or not. Let me simplify a bit and say that MIDI is a digital communications language.

What is it used for?

MIDI is a set of instructions that one uses to tell instruments and software what to do. The acronym “MIDI,” stands for “Musical Instrument Digital Interface.” However, MIDI can also be used to control lighting equipment and even animatronics and robotics. As you can most likely guess after reading that, MIDI can do far more than simply tell instruments what notes to play when. Through MIDI, users can turn volume up or down, open filter controls and pan around the stereo spectrum among many other things. Like most any other sync protocol, MIDI is transmitted through a Master/Slave relationship. Master devices ONLY transmit data. Slave devices ONLY receive it. What are some examples of said devices, you ask?

Why is it important? Who uses MIDI?

Master devices are essentially tangible things: keyboards/synthesizers like the Akai Pro LPK25, electronic drum pads and DJ software controllers like the ION Discover DJ (ICUE3) as well as the various buttons, sliders and knobs on the devices themselves. DJs and musicians alike use devices like that to control software on their computers, manipulating the music (like more traditional DJs do when they “scratch” records) and thus achieving their own unique sound. Slave devices can be tangible too, like in the case of daisy chaining keyboards together, but they can also be plug-ins and software instruments like Logic’s EXS24.

What are software instruments and plug-ins? Well, that’s a whole other blog right there (maybe you’ll see that one sometime in the near future!) Anyway, through a little customization, users can assign software functions to knobs to control things like flangers, echoes, etc. so they can affect the music with a vast variety of special effects. Actually, if you’re thinking about getting into DJing, now would be a great time since we’re currently offering 15% off all DJ controllers, and a lot of them come packaged with reputable software like Traktor LE, Serato or Ableton Live to get you started.

In conclusion, I hope you’ve enjoyed this little introduction to MIDI, and I encourage anyone reading this to ask any questions you might have. Believe it or not, we’re all actual people here at Sonic Electronix, and we do pay attention to what our customers and fans have to say. Thanks for reading!